Operating apparatus for current collectors



Oct. 3, 1939. w, ACHENBACH HAL I 4 2,175,008

OPERATING APPARATUS FOR CURRENT COLLECTORS Filed Feb. 21, 1939 Iflvencbrs: Walter" Achen bach, I Rudolf v. Tempelhoffi Their Attorney.

Patented Oct. 3, 1939 UNITED STATEAS OPERATING APPARATUS FOR CURRENT COLLECTORS Walter Achenbach, Hennigsdorf, and Rudolf v.

Tempelhoff, Tegel, Germany, assignors to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application February 21, 1939, Serial No. 257,618 In Germany June 11, 1938 5 Claims.

The present invention relates to apparatus for operating current collector shoes of electric railway vehicles. Although the invention is not necessarily limited thereto, it is particularly adapt- 5 able for use with railway vehicles which are operated in third rail systems.

It is desirable that current collector shoes of electric railway vehicles be so arranged that they I are capable of being moved to the operative position in engagement with the current carrying conductor or to a disengaged or inoperative po sition. The operating mechanism is usually controlled by compressed air, but when the collector shoe has been withdrawn from the third rail for a length of time, the supply of compressed air may have become exhausted or diminished to such an extent that the shoe cannot be operated again by its associated mechanism into engagement with the third rail. For such situations, 20 a hand pump must be provided for building up suitable operating pressure or else it is necessary to provide an auxiliary source of electric power in the form of batteries for operating the compressor motor.

It is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved arrangement for operating either manually or automatically a current collecting shoe of an electric railway vehicle.

It is a further object of this invention to pro- 3 vide a new and improved arrangement for operating a current collecting shoe of a railway vehicle by either manual or remote controlled means, the arrangement being so organized that the control may be transferred from manual to '35 power operated means in a simple and efficient manner.

In accordance with the illustrated embodiment of this invention, a new and improved arrangement is provided whereby the current collecting 40 shoe is operable either manually or by remote controlled means. When operated manually against the third rail, the shoe is latched in position, but the latch mechanism is automatically released upon the energization of the remote con- 45 trolled operating elements which thereafter control the positioning of the shoe.

For a consideration of. what we believe to be novel and our invention, attention is directed to the following description and the claims ap- 50 pended thereto taken in connection with the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing, Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic representation of a current collecting shoe operating mechanism embodying the invention and shown 55 in the inoperative or disengaged position; Fig. 2 is a sketch illustrating the apparatus in the operative or the engaged position of the shoe with respect to the third rail; and Fig. 3 is a sketch illustrating the operation of one detail of the 60 apparatus.

Referring to the drawing, a current collecting shoe it) is mounted on the end of an arm H which is pivotally secured as at I2 to the railway vehicle (not shown) and adapted to be moved into engagement with the current carrying con- 5 ductor or third rail !3. An extension of the arm ll projecting beyond the pivot i2 is connected as by the tension spring M to an operating lever [5, the operating lever l5 being rigidly connected to the shaft it which is also provided with rigidl0 ly connected levers El, l8 and Hi. The shaft I6 is adapted to be operated either manually by means of a handle 20 or by means of the motor 2| as will be described. The shaft 22 which may be mounted coaxially with the pivot l2 and adapted to be operated by a handle is provided with a rigidly connected lever 23 which in turn is connected by means of the link 24 with the lever l8. Upon the movement of the handle, applied onto the end of the shaft 22, in the clock- 20 wise direction, the shaft IE will be similarly rotated moving the upper end of the shoe carrying arm H to the right bringing the shoe l0 into engagement with the third rail [3 as shown in Fig. 2. Because of the tension spring connec-( tion between the lever l5 and the arm H, the shoe will be held resiliently against the third rail so as to compensate for normal shifting movements between the vehicle and the third rail during the operation of the vehicle. It will be noted that the mechanism is retained in the position shown by the latch 25 which engages the end of the lever Hi, the latch being normally biased to an operative position by spring 26. Upon either manual or automatic tripping of the 5 latch 25, the lever l9 and the operating lever IE will be moved to the inoperative position by means of the spring 21 arranged between the lever I1 and a stationary part 28. Upon the resultant rotation of the shaft It in the counterclockwise direction, the link 24 will be moved toward the left rotating the lever 23 also in the counter-clockwise direction. The offset arm 29 fixed with respect to the lever 23 is adapted to engage with the upper end of the arm H so as positively to move the arm and hence the shoe to the inoperative or disengaging position.

Once the shoe is moved into engagement with the third rail I 3 by the hand operated lever and power is available within the vehicle, the control of the shoe may be transferred to the motor operating mechanism. Although any suitable type of remote controlled motor may be embodied for operating the shoe, the motor shown in this instance is a compressed air driven servo-motor, the piston of which is connected by the stem 29 to the lever ill. Compressed. air may be supplied to the motor 2| through the conduit 36 the control valves therefor (not shown) may be of any suitable type. Simultaneously with the energization of the motor 2|, latch 25 is actuated to the inoperative position. In the embodiment shown, an auxiliary compressed air motor 3! is provided having a piston connected by stem 32 to an arm 33 associated with the latch 25. In order to insure that the latch will not be tripped until ample pressure is built up within the motor 2| for holding the shoe in engagement with the third rail, means are provided for delaying the action of the auxiliary motor 3|. Such means may be a restriction or an orifice 34 provided in the conduit 35 adjacent the motor 3! for limiting the rate of air supply thereto. The energized condition of the motor 3! and the corresponding position of the latch 25 is illustrated in the detail sketch Fig. 3. The orifice 34 also serves for delaying the return of the latch 25 to the operative position under the action of the spring 26 when, during remote control, the pressure is released in the conduit 39 for retracting the shoe. At such time the piston of the motor 2! will be forced downwardly under the action of the spring 21 and the shaft 16 rotated in the counterclockwise direction. The fluid in the cylinder of the motor however, will leak out slowly due to the orifice 34 whereby the return of the latch 25 to the operative position will be delayed until such time as the end of the lever I9 will be moved clear.

Having described the principle of operation of our invention together with the apparatus which we now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof, we desire to have it understood that the apparatus shown is only illustrative and that the invention may be carried out by other means.

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. The combination, a contact adapted to be moved into engagement with a conductor, a pivoted arm carrying said contact, an operating lever, resilient tension means connecting said lever and said arm, manually operable means for actuating said lever to an operative position effecting engagement of said contact with the conductor by the tensioning of said connecting means, spring means operably associated with said operating lever biasing it to the inoperative position, a latch for retaining said operating lever in the manually actuated operative position, a motor for actuating said operating lever to the operative position, an auxiliary motor adapted to be energized upon the energization of said actuating motor for adjusting said latch to an inoperative position and means for precluding the operation of said latch by said auxiliary motor until said actuating motor is in its fully energized condition.

2. The combination, a contact adapted to be moved into engagement with a conductor, a pivoted arm carrying said contact, an operating lever, resilient means connecting said lever and said arm, manually operable means for actuating said lever to an operative position effecting engagement of said contact with the conductor, spring means operably associated with said operating lever biasing it to the inoperative position, a latch for retaining said operating lever in the manually actuated operative position, a motor for actuating said operating lever to the operative position, an auxiliary motor adapted to be energized upon the energization of said actuating motor for adjusting said latch to an inoperative position, and means for delaying the operation sion, a latch normallybiased to an operative position for retaining said operating lever in the manually actuated position, a motor for actuating said operating lever to the operative position, and an auxiliary motor adapted to be energized upon the energization of said actuating motor for moving said latch to an inoperative position while said operating lever is maintained in said operative position by said actuating motor.

4. Apparatus for operating a shoe for collecting current from a third rail, said apparatus comprising a pivoted arm for carrying said shoe into engagement with said third rail, an operating lever, resilient means connecting said lever and said arm whereby said shoe is resiliently held in engagement with said third rail upon the actuation of said operating lever to the operative position, positively acting means for causing the disengagement of said shoe from said third rail upon the actuation of said operating lever to the inoperative position, manually operable means for actuating said operating lever to the operative position, spring means connected to said operating lever biasing it to the inoperative position, a latch for retaining said operating lever in the manually actuated operative position, a fluid pressure motor for actuating said operating lever, an auxiliary fluid pressure motor means adapted to be energized with the energization of said actuating motor for moving said latch to the inoperative position only after the fluid pressure in said actuating motor is sufficient for holding said operating lever in said operative position.

5. Apparatus for operating a shoe for collecting current from a third rail, said apparatus comprising a pivoted arm for carrying said shoe into engagement with said third rail, an operating lever, resilient means connecting said lever and said arm whereby said shoe is resiliently held in engagement with said third rail upon the actuation of said operating lever to the operative position, positively acting means for causing the disengagement of said shoe from said third rail upon the actuation of said operating lever to the inoperative position, manually operable means for actuating said operating lever to the operative position, spring means connected to said operating lever biasing it to the inoperative position, a latch for retaining said operating lever in the manually actuated operative position, a main fluid motor for actuating said operating lever, an auxiliary fluid motor for adjusting said latch to the inoperative position, said fluid motors adapted to be energized substantially simultaneously, and means restricting the flow of operating fluid to and from said auxiliary motor for delaying the operation of said auxiliary motor upon the energization and deenergization of said main fluid motor.

WALTER ACHENBACH.

RUDOLF v. TEMPELHOFF. 

